Mindfulness
meditation is a simple tool that can guarantee improved exam performance and
thus help us to become better students.
When it comes to sitting for an exam, many of us have experienced the
anxiety around the pressure to perform well.
We think our lives will end if we don’t pass our exams and imagine all
the ways our life will come tumbling down.
Stressful!
There
have been numerous studies done correlating the effect of meditation on
academic performance. Besides reducing
stress, there is strong evidence that meditation directly improves IQ,
short-term memory, creativity and cognitive ability. On a deeper level, meditation connects students
to deeper levels of peace, inner fulfillment and self-consciousness. How can meditation do all of this you ask?
Mindfulness
meditation can help us keep our thoughts in the present moment, where our
efforts can best serve us. By freeing up
mind space from thoughts of future worries, we can open up more space and
energy to focus on the demands of the present moment. This equates to improved focus and
concentration, which leads to better test results. When our focus improves, we are able to
better comprehend and retain the material we are studying. We also make fewer mistakes when we are truly
concentrating and paying attention to what we are reading, writing and
speaking. In helping to remove
self-doubt and improve exam performance, meditation also helps us to become
more confident, which then makes us more assertive and resilient. Ultimately we learn to love and appreciate ourselves,
regardless of our exam scores.
